Abraham complained to the Lord, “Behold, you have given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.” Every believer goes through this kind of trial at some point in his life. Still, the faithful man grows with it, and the trial makes him stronger. This is because the divine consolation that comes at such moment brings reassurance and confidence. Thus, the Lord reassured Abraham of the promise He made to him. He asked Abraham to count the number of stars, saying, “So shall your descendants be.”
Abraham believed the Lord; “And He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Abraham believed without any evidence to spur him on. After the Lord reassured him in his complain, he renewed his faith in God. But he asked the Lord, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it? In response the Lord asked him to offer a sacrifice, which the Lord accepted at sundown! “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river of Euphrates”
Think about the great sacrifice of Jesus that has become the sign and fulfillment of God’s covenants. THE SIGN OF THE CROSS, the Sacrifice of Jesus, is God’s ultimate response to our desire for assurance and confidence in His promises. Once more we see how Abraham’s journey looked forward to the salvation of humanity. Thus, Jesus warns in the Gospel of today that we should beware of false prophets, who claim to reassure us in faith, but strip us of the saving sign of the Cross, the sacrifice of Jesus that leads us on to the fulfillment of God’s promises. “Thus you will know them by their fruits”, fruits of love, discipline, righteousness, etc. These are fruits of the Cross of Christ, which in turn gives us more assurance than that of Abraham
Our help is in the name of the Lord; who made heaven and earth! Amen.
Fr
Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints
Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo,
Ojo, Lagos.
Wednesday
June 23rd, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com
